In October, a friend and I booked an AirBnB experience called "Hiking with Goats" in Grey, Maine. We had booked an AirBnB in Freeport and planned to spend most of the weekend in Portland, but we were so intrigued by reading the words "hike" and "goat" in the same sentence. The experience came highly rated… Continue reading Hiking with Goats in Gray, Maine
Tag: Hiking
Conquering Half Dome
On Thursday, June 7th, two days before my thirty-first birthday, I conquered Half Dome in Yosemite with three friends. It was a grueling, fifteen-hour hike that I thought would never end, but looking back on it two weeks later, it was worth all that hard work. I had been planning to visit Yosemite since first… Continue reading Conquering Half Dome
Hawaii Pt 2: Hiking Kauai and Other Adventures
On Friday morning, we hopped into the car bright and early when all the radio shows were playing the catchy end of the week song: "It's Aloha Friday! No work 'til Monday!" A great way to jump start our hiking adventures on Kauai. Any Aloha... Kauai Hike #1: Hanakapiai Falls Trail We hiked 8 miles… Continue reading Hawaii Pt 2: Hiking Kauai and Other Adventures
Part 1: I Went to Hawaii and I Didn’t Get Leid…
...but I still had an awesome time! Going to Hawaii was my first big vacation since being back from Japan...and actually my longest vacation yet. Since I was gone for two whole weeks, I'm going to break my adventures up into several parts. We packed in so much hiking and eating into two weeks that… Continue reading Part 1: I Went to Hawaii and I Didn’t Get Leid…
Photo Blog: Falling in Love with New England Again
In typical New England fashion, the weather has been unpredictable lately. Two weekends ago we had a big snow storm, and then it was 55 degrees and rainy outside, so all the snow washed away.I'm missing all the fall colors now that it's winter, so I wanted to share some pictures from my favorite autumn… Continue reading Photo Blog: Falling in Love with New England Again
Who I Am: “Lifestyle Change” Third Anniversary
This is now my third end-of-year-post where I acknowledge my mission to get healthy. Last year, I still couldn't believe I had maintained the same healthy weight for 2 years in a row. (I ended 2013 close to 180 pounds. I'm 130 pounds now.) As the curtain closes on 2016, I've realized something new about myself:… Continue reading Who I Am: “Lifestyle Change” Third Anniversary
A Culminating Climb up Mount Fuji (AKA Are we on the moon?)
My last epic adventure before starting my descent back to America was to climb Fuji. I left Amami the day my teaching contract ended and met Lesley (who I also hiked Yakushima with last September) and her brother, Graham, in Shinjuku so we could set off early the following morning for Shizuoka, the prefecture where… Continue reading A Culminating Climb up Mount Fuji (AKA Are we on the moon?)
Truly Rural (Inaka Road Trip to Miyazaki)
Over the weekend, I was just looking forward to spending time visiting Chiho and Kevin at their new home in Issa with Ching and Megan, but our time in the inaka (the countryside) left me feeling so satisfied and fulfilled! It was my first time going on a road trip in Japan and spending some… Continue reading Truly Rural (Inaka Road Trip to Miyazaki)
The First Perfect Island Day of 2016
I wrote this post last night. I came home from an amazing day and needed to turn my experience into words. Here you go. Today. I need to put a day like today in words. Right after it's happened. When I can still feel the palpable heat of the sun on my face and it makes my head… Continue reading The First Perfect Island Day of 2016
The Misty Mountains of Yakushima
Last week was Silver Week in Japan--a string of September holidays that comes around once every five years. I feel lucky for Silver Week to have fallen during my year in Japan, so I seized the opportunity to travel somewhere new. My school approved my two days of nenkyu (paid time off) for Thursday and… Continue reading The Misty Mountains of Yakushima
The Becca Jar 